acabar Preterite Conjugation
acabar — to finish
The preterite of acabar is regular: acabé, acabaste, acabó, acabamos, acabasteis, acabaron.
acabar Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite for a completed action at a specific point in time, such as 'I finished the book yesterday.'
Notes on acabar in the Preterite
Acabar is fully regular. Note that 'acabamos' is the same for both present and preterite; use context clues to tell them apart.
Example Sentences
Ayer acabé el informe a las seis.
Yesterday I finished the report at six.
yo
¿Acabaste de limpiar la cocina?
Did you finish cleaning the kitchen?
tú
La película acabó muy tarde.
The movie finished very late.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Omitting the accent on 'acabó'.
Correct: acabó
Why: Without the accent, 'acabo' means 'I finish' (present), whereas 'acabó' means 'he/she/it finished' (past).
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: acabo
The present tense of acabar is regular: acabo, acabas, acaba, acabamos, acabáis, acaban.
Imperfect
yo: acababa
Acabar in the imperfect is regular: acababa, acababas, acababa, acabábamos, acababais, acababan.
Future
yo: acabaré
The future tense is regular: acabaré, acabarás, acabará, acabaremos, acabaréis, acabarán.
Conditional
yo: acabaría
The conditional is regular: acabaría, acabarías, acabaría, acabaríamos, acabaríais, acabarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: acabe
The present subjunctive of acabar follows the -ar pattern: acabe, acabes, acabe, acabemos, acabéis, acaben.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: acabara
The imperfect subjunctive of acabar uses the -ra endings: acabara, acabaras, acabara, acabáramos, acabarais, acabaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: acaba
The affirmative imperative forms are: acaba (tú), acabe (usted), acabemos (nosotros), acabad (vosotros), acaben (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no acabes
Negative commands use the present subjunctive: no acabes, no acabe, no acabemos, no acabéis, no acaben.